Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro

Service was slow despite us being the only two people there. The food was ok but pretty standard. The “pig wings” were basically all bones on a bed of blue cheese crumbles.
Very odd.

We dined at an outside table which I really enjoyed - The menu has a nice variety of interesting choices. we had the Beet salad and the Shrimp and grits as appetizers, for dinner we had duck and scallops - the duck was prepared very nicely ! as I've lately been disappointed elsewhere for duck.. The chef prepared the scallops beautifully.
the wine list is well selected - there are a variety of price points and a broad range of choices.
Waitstaff was helpful -

Great for weekends. Wine list is hafprice. And the food is pretty darn good too.

Food was ok, service was slow. Had to send one plate (Crispy Duck).

Food was badly presented, waiter very unsure of some basic food terms. Food was sloppily prepared. Loved the ambience and will give the place another shot, but there was probably a good reason the place was empty on a Saturday night.

Loved the romantic atmosphere . Quiet place and staff very friendly and accommodating. Had drinks after dinner on patio near fire pit, was very romantic

The food has vastly approved over the years but the service is still extremely slow...

Everything was great! Not one complaint to write regarding this fantastic resturant. I highly recommend the "Pigs Wings" aka Wild Boar Ribs!

Hidden treasure Reston ! Plenty free parking - great food service ambiance reasonable & quiet!

We always love it when we go to Vinifera, for both the wonderful food/drink and the terrific service!

Very nice restaurant where bar. Friendly employees. Great service. Extensive wine list! Great ambiance.

We chose Vinifera for Mother’s Day. They called me everyday the week prior to confirm my reservation, which I confirmed each day, and also to remind that they would not seat us if we weren’t there promptly by 2. We arrived early and were seated. At no point was the restaurant full, in fact it was relatively empty. The food was incredibly underwhelming. They had an omelet station which was the best food by far. They had a carving station with lamb and roast beef. The meats were flavorful and tender but cold. They only had 6 hot dishes which were honestly nothing to write home about. At 3 sharp, they packed everything up and came around politely trying to scoot us out. Needless to say we will not be dining here again. I had to apologize to my mother for a lame day and took her out later in the week for a redo.

The Mother's Day Brunch menu was pleasantly varied, the food very good and the service excellent.

Service was very good we had the pings wings & shrimp and grits were great ,duck meal was very good. However the desserts weren’t as up to par as the rest of the meal. We will return for appetizer and dinner again it’s a nice quiet restaurant where you can actually have conversations at the table without any problems.

I chose Vinifera as I have had lovely quiet dinners with friends there before. One of the meals of our guests from miles away (fish) was spoiled. No one came to apologize much less comp the meal. That same person reordered lamb medium rare and it was bloody. She decided to forgo her main course. It took a long while for the reordered dinner to appear.

I have been to this restaurant many times and the service had always been great until this last time. On Friday, May 11th my husband and I went for drinks and appetizers. Our female waitress was extremely slow and not attentive at all. She appeared to be more interested in everyone else but us. When we ordered a second glass of wine, the glass sat at the bar for over 15 minutes. Finally my husband got up and brought it back to our table. The same waitress helped the table behind us but never did bring us the second glass. The few times we asked for something, she disappeared and didn't come back for 10 minutes. The brie cheese board was not anything like we had the week before. Two weeks ago it was a nice size wheel of brie that was perfect for two people. This last time it wasn't any bigger than a "baby bell" circle of brie. It was barely enough for one person let alone two. I will think twice about going back.

Service a bit slow but overall a good place to eat

Service was friendly but kept missing the mark. We ordered a bottle of wine--they tried to deliver just a glass of wine to us, twice. We asked questions about two entrees, clearly ordered the one he recommended, then he brought us the one we didn't order. (With an apology, but still...). Water glasses were small and I had to ask for mine to be refilled about 6 times during the meal. I mean, if you see that someone is a water drinker, shouldn't you try to be more attentive to it? Steak tartar was very good. Octopus was tough but flavorful. Scallops were tasty, but not what we ordered. I probably won't go back.

We went to Vinifera for their Easter brunch. It seemed a little odd at first, as its tucked away in a hotel in an area surrounded by office buildings, but it was definitely worth the try. I can't comment on their regular menu, but they did a fantastic job with their buffet! Plenty of beautiful food, well prepared -- breakfast choices, carving station, waffle and omelette bars, and tons of fruit, veggies, and breads (very vegetarian-friendly). The dessert pastries were excellent. Service was fine; there were tons of staff busing tables (maybe a little too attentive, a little too ready to take away plates), but it was hard to find wait staff for check, to order a beverage, etc. Manager and host staff were very welcoming. We'll definitely keep it in mind for special occasions, and maybe happy hour, too.

Awful experience. Had a 7pm reservation, took far too long to even get water, never got bread. Brought the wrong bottle of wine. Had to ask them to take our entree order and by 9pm when we still hadn't received our food, I called the manager over and told him we were leaving. The apps were delicious, but we won't be back.

This little gem in downtown Auburn is such a great spot for a glass of wine and a nice dinner or lunch. We have been here several times and have had great service and good food everytime!

We made a reservation. Got there hostess set us right away. Got to table you could tell everybody was in a rush. Waiter finally came to the table after 15 minutes and we ordered a bottle wine and waited an additional 15 minutes. Could really tell that the service was out the window that night customers were starting to laugh about how long it took to get food and drinks.After waiting 30 minutes for no bottle wine we decided to walk out

It is attached to the Westin hotel and was crowded and noisy with a hotel event.

We were seated promptly and the menu looked great; however after sitting there for 17 minutes and never receiving a greeting (much less water, menus, or a cocktail list) we got up and left.

If you represent as a restaurant, then you have to manage it professionally- this was run like a hotel lounge that also serves food (maybe)...

Service was very good ... couch area nice ... bar area cramped, awkward layout. Dining room lacked ambiance. Wine list was interesting & servers fairly knowledgeable on wine list. Food was good ... broccoli jalapeño & Brussel sprout were excellent!

Valentine’s Day k bad reservation for two. We get there on time at 8 PM and half the Restaurant was empty even though open table was only showing next reservation at 10 PM. Not sure what was the issue with the management. Finally we are seated and order a bottle of wine. The server did not seem like he was in his best mood. He bought two room service wine glasses as this place is part of hotel. I could see at bar plenty of real wine glasses sitting and requested to speak with manager. The manager gladly went to bar and got us two real wine glasses and poured our wine. Now I requested a decanter for wine. The server was very upset. Finally in his rude attitude he asked if we wanted to order starters and I ordered chicken wings and shrimp cocktail. He gave us pork ribs and shrimp cocktail. We did not complain this time. Finally we were still on our first glass of wine when Place out dinner order. Right after that the fire alarm for whole hotel lighted up and the siren started going up. All guests were told to leave the restaurant and go outside. Two fire engines show up. I tried to locate a person in Restaurant to see if we can pay for our wine and leave but the person said nobody can go inside and made faces. We had a show date later and had to leave in an hour. We waited 20-30 minutes and finally had to take off. There was no instructions from anyone as to how to pay or not pay for glass of wine we had in our hand. We finally took off and eat at a nearby fast food and went to our show. What a way to celebrate valentines. Why would a Restuarant this size should have problem giving you real wine glasses. Why the server say we are super busy when the 60% place was empty at 8 PM. This was second time and last time there as a guest. The hotel is not doing something right to run such a place so

Terrible service.
Enough said

We couldn't hear each other across the table, with only a party of 5. It was nearly impossible to get the waiter's attention, and service was very slow, on a Wednesday night. When we asked for bread and said "we're dying here," the waiter acted like nothing was unusual. The food tasted good, but for the price and poor service, it was not worth it.

Service going down hill. You had better staff. But don’t blame the staff. Blame the management. No attention to details anymore. Little attention to the personal touch.

Nice place. Only complaint from our group was that there were no veggies included. Available for fee.

Half price wine on Sat-Sun worthwhile.

I have been to this restaurant many times and loved it. Unfortunately something has changed. This past Saturday night I was delighted to hear that wine bottles were half price. That was great news. Unfortunately things went South from there. The waiter was new and nervous and absent. We could not get bread delivered to the table. The risotto was awful. The Sommelier had quit the prior day so no one knew enough to recommend a wine for us. I will not go back.

My wife and I were looking for a wine bar we hadn't been to before and selected this one on OpenTable because it was a 1000-point bonus hour. That said, we still had high hopes for it, as it looked good in photos, and the menu was intriguing, if a bit high priced. Once we arrived and realized it was in a Westin, the pricing was explained. We were seated cordially and quickly (it was pretty empty for a Friday night), but there the experience went down a bit. It took a good 10-15 minutes before our waiter came to us even to offer a glass of water, much less take orders for drinks or any food. When he did finally arrive, we were well-ready to order our meals - two drinks, the same soup for us both, and two appetizers to share. He didn't write anything down and when he walked away, I remarked to my wife that I'm always really impressed when a waiter can memorize whole orders like that. However, 10 minutes later he came back with a paper and pencil and asked us to repeat the order "for the kitchen." After another substantial wait, he brought out only my wife's drink. Then came back 5 minutes later with my drink. A little bit after that, I saw another couple waiters come out with what looked like our soups, only to deliver them - and our appetizers - to the table next to us. Our waiter came out a minute or so later and brought the food to us instead. The food was adequate, but didn't blow us away. (The drinks, bar specials, were actually quite yummy.) The waiter did check back with us a couple times while we were eating. Overall, not a horrible experience, but just disappointing. There's nothing there that would make us rush to return.

Pretty much empty. Food was mediocre and the wait staff way below par.

I was expecting my experience to be a fairly good one considering the reviews read. I met a friend here for brunch on a Sunday, a late brunch 2pm, and the restaurant was completely empty minus one other couple and us. The restaurant is adjacent to the Westin hotel that was not easily noticeable. The service was slow and inattentive despite the fact that we were the only patrons. Our food was okay, but nothing to rave about. At best I would give an overall rating of okay/fair.

We were meeting family driving in just for lunch from out of town and wanted a location so they wouldn't have to drive into DC. The location was as convenient as we could find open for lunch during the week. We had a bit of difficulty finding parking once we arrived at the address, since there is another hotel and apartment building in the same park. We spotted the red awning of the restaurant and that's how we found it. The ambiance in the lobby was very impressive with a lovely, welcoming fireplace on a chilly afternoon. However, there was no hostess on duty to seat us, and only one waitress, who led us to our table. A lovely display of seasonal offerings were visible at the entrance, but I did not see them on offer for our luncheon meal (perhaps that's only for dinner). Considering that this is a restaurant in a hotel (Westin), it was an enjoyable experience. The waitress and assistant were polite, but my sister had to ask more than once for a spoon and my brother-in-law had to repeat his request for iced tea. My salad arrived without bread but that was provided shortly after I requested it. The crab in the salad was good, tasted fresh, no problems. However, I found the dressing merely okay, a lemony nothing-special affair. Both my sister and brother-in-law had grilled cheese sandwiches which my sister did not finish, and my brother had a bit of trouble with the coarse consistency of the bread, which made him cough a bit. My husband seemed quite happy with his hamburger. We did not order either alcohol (although this is a wine bar, primarily) since we were anticipating long drives after lunch, coffee, or dessert. The bill for the 4 of us with tip came to $84, which seems a good value by DC standards.

Limited menu. Would like to see chicken or more seafood. Otherwise is was a good exoerience. Highly suggest sitting outside.

Vinifera was a great find with an excellent wine list and a good variety of menu items. The scallops I had were perfectly cooked and my wife's steak was equally delicious. Our server was very courteous and helpful.

I dine here 3-4 times per year when in town for business and always look forward to a good meal. The fall menu had some nice seasonal choices. I recommend the pumpkin risotto and beet salad. Great portion sizes unlike some restaurants. Nice to dine outside. Service is always hit or miss but still pretty good. Some great new desserts!

This was our first visit to Vinifera. I have food allergies and it is very hard for me to find a place to eat out. I contacted the chef ahead of time. Chef Falbo was very quick to respond and reassured me that he would take care of me. I really enjoyed my carefully prepared meal and it was so artfully presented too. Just lovely. The restaurant has herb gardens in planters right outside. The dessert of mint ice-cream was very refreshing. Kristen was a very gracious server. We will look forward to return visits. Another plus, the restaurant offers easy (free) parking.

Wonderful evening outside by the firepit. Our server John was extremely attentive and professional. The food and drinks were very good in every aspect - flavor, portion and price.

This is a hidden gem that is worth going to with the weather calls for an outdoor venue.